Various kinds of audio visual equipment owned by the user are becoming popular, generally allowing the user to personally enjoy musical software and video software.
For example, the user who owns an audio system capable of playing back software from a disc recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disc: a trademark) and an MD (Mini Disc: a trademark) purchases a desired CD or a desired MD, or creates its own original disc by recording pieces of music the user likes into an MD, a sort of recording media which allows software to be recorded into.
A new kind of audio visual equipment different from the conventional equipment is being developed namely a recording/playback apparatus using typically recording media with a large storage capacity such as a hard disc for storing audio-data files and video-data files.
For example, pieces of music recorded on package media owned by the user are dubbed into a recording medium such as a hard disc employed in the recording/playback apparatus. By using a recording medium with a large storage capacity such as a hard disc, all pieces of music recorded on a number of recording mediums such as CDs owned by the user can be accommodated in a recording/playback system. For example, a hard disc with a storage capacity in the range 3 to 4 Gbyte can be used for accommodating pieces of music recorded on about 5 CDs for each CD having a storage capacity of 640 Mbyte. In addition, the same hard disc can be used for accommodating pieces of music recorded on about 25 MDs as each MD has a storage capacity of up to 140 Mbyte.
When the user desires to play back certain software such as a piece of music, the user does not have to specially look for a CD or other recording media containing the desired piece of music. Instead, the user can just specify the desired piece of music, and let the recording/playback apparatus read out the music from the hard disc and play it back. Such a recording/playback apparatus is thus very convenient for the user who owns a large number of recording mediums such as CDs. In addition, since it is also not necessary for the user to replace a disc in use mounted on the recording/playback apparatus with another one, the user is capable of readily enjoying pieces of music selected in accordance with the mood or condition of the user at that time.
It is also possible to provide a portable recording/playback apparatus to which information such as musical data can be copied or transferred from a recording medium such as the hard disc employed in the main recording/playback apparatus. In the following description, the portable recording/playback apparatus is also referred to simply as a portable apparatus for the sake of brevity. Pieces of music that the user desires to listen to on that day can then be selected among a large number of pieces of music stored in the main recording/playback apparatus to be copied into the portable recording/playback apparatus for playing back the copied music later. In the case of a portable recording/playback apparatus employing a hard disc or a flash memory as a recording medium, in particular, the user is capable of copying information such as musical data from the main recording/playback apparatus to the portable recording/playback apparatus instantly. Such a scheme enables a sort of application wherein the user selects for example pieces of music in accordance with the mood and the condition on that day on a daily basis, copies them from the main recording/playback apparatus to the portable recording/playback apparatus and enjoys the pieces of music played back from the portable one. In the case of the conventional portable recording/playback apparatus represented by a CD player and a MD player, for example, the user has to carry a plurality of CDs or MDs along with the apparatus in case pieces of music the user desires to listen to on that day are spread over a number of CDs or MDs. With the new portable recording/playback apparatus, on the other hand, such an inconvenience is eliminated.
The user is thus capable of using such recording/playback apparatuses as a personal music server. To be more specific, the user is capable of readily enjoying software such as music indoors and outdoors by using the main recording/playback apparatus and the portable recording/playback apparatus respectively.
The user is normally required to pay a dubbing fee for an operation to copy data from a recording medium such as a CD to the hard disc of the recording/playback apparatus owned by the user as implementation of protection of a copyright owned by an author creating the data.
In particular, a function of the so-called high-speed dubbing is capable of easily facilitating a means for creating the so-called piracy media unless such dubbing is restricted. In the high-speed dubbing, data is read out from a recording medium such as a CD mounted on the recording/playback apparatus with the CD rotated at a rotational speed higher than the normal-speed playback operation in a short period of time and recorded into the hard disc employed in the recording/playback apparatus.
In order to solve the problem described above, there has been devised means whereby the recording/playback apparatus is connected to an information center by a communication means such as a telephone line and the dubbing operation described above is implemented only if a dubbing permission is granted to the recording/playback apparatus by the information center.
The information center is provided with a data base for storing data concerning media such as CDs sold or presented in the market in general. To be more specific, the data base contains data such as information on individuals relevant to creation of work recorded in the media such as words/music composers and performers, information on copyrights and information on dubbing fees.
When the user dubs a CD by using the recording/playback apparatus, the recording/playback apparatus establishes a communication with the information center to get a dubbing permission. In addition, information such as the identification of the CD to be dubbed is also transmitted to the information center.
The information center carries out processing such as authentication of the user. If all requirements are found satisfied, a dubbing permission is issued to the recording/playback apparatus.
Receiving the permission, the recording/playback apparatus carries out the dubbing. Then, the information center checks the data base for information on the copyright owner and a dubbing fee for the dubbed CD and requests the user to pay the copyright owner the dubbing fee. Typically, for example, the information center pays the copyright owner the dubbing fee based on a contract made between the information center and the copyright owner in advance, and then draws money from a bank account of the user.
It is needless to say that the dubbing fee can be made free at the copyright owner's request.
With such a system, dubbing that infringes a copyright can be avoided, making it possible to implement a personal music server benefiting both the general user and the copyright owner.
In the information center, however, it is necessary to construct a data base for storing information on dubbing fees and copyright owners cited above for media such as CDs sold all over the world. Actually, it is practically impossible to store all information for an extremely large number of media already sold so far and to be sold in the future in the data base.
Thus, it is not unusual that information on a CD to be dubbed by the user is not stored in the data base of the information center.
In this case, there is a problem that the information center is not capable of carrying out proper processing for the copyright owner.
In addition, a means for implementing a data base as efficiently as possible is also required to reduce the number of discs that are found uncataloged in the data base in a dubbing operation.